Mark Your Calendar: First Women’s Summit

“Helping Women Professionals Succeed” is the theme of the first Women’s Summit hosted by the Work/Life & Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) scheduled for Tuesday, October 11, at the Hyatt Rosemont in Chicago, Illinois.

“Women currently make up more than 50 percent of all accounting graduates in the country,” said Summit Chair Leslie Murphy of Plante & Moran and Chair-elect of the AICPA. “The Summit will gather together firm managing partners, human resource professionals and female CPAs to share ideas and devise strategies about the retention and advancement of women in the profession.”

Representatives of Catalyst, Clifton Gunderson LLP, Deloitte, Grant Thornton LLP, Robert Half Finance & Accounting, Cheryl Leitschuh Consulting, Plante & Moran, Retensa LLC, Rupert and Company and the Trepeck Group LLC will be among the speakers at the Summit.

The program will include the following sessions:

Barriers to Advancement: Overcoming Barriers to Women’s Development Advancement A discussion of research on the experiences and perceptions of prominent female and male executives.

Different Leadership Styles The importance of having a women’s initiative that supports an organizations business strategies.

Staff Retention: Retaining Your Best Employees Strategies proven to retain top employees, recognize the signs when personnel may be looking to leave, rewarding staff accomplishments, providing advancement opportunities, creating a positive work environment and understanding the role of compensation and benefits in employee satisfaction.

PAR (Problem/Action/Result) Four panel discussions addressing staffing issues such as flexible work schedules, management styles to attract and retain staff, training on how to build and foster networks, and providing alternative career paths for high-potential women in the workplace.

Mentoring With a Woman’s Edge The use of mentoring as a recruitment, retention and development tool.